Instructional Media Center (IMC)
The IMC is the hub of production in Communication Arts. The IMC circulates cameras, lights, audio recording equipment, and all the other production tools for our students. It is also home to the Hamel Family Digital Media Lab and the post suites where we teach classes and students edit. It also has an extensive collection of films, TV, and video games that you can watch in the IMC.
Hamel Family Digital Media Lab
Established in 2007 with a generous gift from Pamela and George Hamel (BA’80), the Hamel Family Digital Media Lab houses over 60 iMac computers with Adobe Creative Suite programs for students to work on narrative films, documentaries, podcasts, and other post-production coursework. The computers are networked together to create a space for students to collaborate and save their work, eliminating the need to purchase a personal external hard drive. The 384TB storage network is securely backed up so student work is protected and can’t be lost. The Lab is an editing facility and classroom and is the backbone of our post-production course offerings.
Post Suites
The Post Suites are used by students in advanced Digital Cinema Production courses for editing, color grading, and sound mixing. Each suite has a reference monitor for color grading and a CRU drive for DCP creation. One suite is built for surround sound mixing, and there is a studio for recording ADR and Foley. In addition to the Adobe Creative Suite, we teach Divinci Resolve, Pro Tools, and DCP-o-matic in these suites.
The Studios
Studio D and E are sound stages that are used to teach filmmaking classes and for student productions on nights and weekends. All of our production classes use the studio space to practice cinematography, lighting, and sound recording. The studios are equipped with camera, lighting, and sound gear so students do not need to check out anything other than the key to the facility to work in the space. They also have a collection of props, furniture, and rolling sets to support shoots.
Mirisch Seminar Room
Established with a generous gift from Walter Mirisch (BA’42), the Mirisch Seminar Room hosts small classes, especially graduate seminars. The room is decorated with posters from Walter’s career, including In the Heat of the Night, Magnificent 7, Some Like it Hot, and West Side Story.
Living Room Lab
The Living Room Lab is designed to replicate the experience of viewing content at home. It’s an intimate room that features a large screen TV and almost every video console that has ever been made. Our courses on gaming meet in this lab.
4070 Vilas
4070 Vilas is Communication Arts’ main screening room. It is used for larger lectures, like Comm Arts 355, and is used to screen films for class labs. The room can project digital films (DCP), 35mm, and 16mm, and is host to many guest filmmaker talks that are open to all students. Students in advanced production classes screen their films on DCP in 4070.
UW Cinematheque
In addition to our facilities that help you gain the skills of a professional filmmaker, there are also many resources on campus that allow you to watch films for free in a community of like-minded film lovers. We have never met a filmmaker who isn’t a huge film fan!
Communication Arts’ Cinematheque is dedicated to showcasing the best in international cinema history and fine films that would otherwise never reach Madison screens. They have a weekly series of films that premiere exclusively in Madison. Several guests are hosted each semester including directors, screenwriters, producers, archivists, and others. All Cinematheque screenings are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-seated basis.
Wisconsin Film Festival
The Wisconsin Film Festival showcases the art and history of cinema and is hosted by Communication Arts in Madison each spring. For over 25 years, students at UW–Madison have enjoyed free tickets to the Wisconsin Film Festival and met with visiting filmmakers who are presenting their work. Students can see any film at the Festival for free if there are seats available on the day of the show. This annual event offers a great opportunity to lose yourself in film for a full week.
The Film Festival supports UW-Madison’s teaching, research, and public service mission by presenting films and filmmakers from Wisconsin and around the world for campus and the greater community.
WUD Film Committee
The Wisconsin Union Directorate Film Committee is a student-run organization dedicated to bringing a diverse, innovative, and exciting lineup of movies to campus and the surrounding community.
Committee members help program, advertise, and host hundreds of free film screenings each year in Union South’s state-of-the-art Marquee Theater.
WUD Film strives to maintain a diverse programming lineup consisting of contemporary Hollywood blockbusters, independent, international, and documentary films, as well as late-night cult favorites. In addition, the committee organizes a summer Lakeside Cinema series on the Memorial Union Terrace. All screenings are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-seated basis.
Comm Arts Showcase
For over 40 years, Communication Arts has gathered at the end of each semester to screen work from student productions. The Showcase features work from students’ first production classes through to the premiere of the capstone 25-minute films from CA659. We have screened podcasts, documentaries, music videos, commercials, and short films.
Wisconsin Screenwriters’ Symposium
Are you an aspiring screenwriter, avid storyteller, film student, or simply a lover of cinema? The Wisconsin Screenwriters’ Symposium has curated an event for the last several years that allows students and community members to hear from writers working in numerous areas of production and attend writing workshops to hone their skills as aspiring screenwriters.
Hollywood Badgers
The Hollywood Badgers are a group of UW–Madison students who are interested in working in careers in film, television, and media industries. They host weekly meetings with industry guests, many of whom are alumni. They focus on networking and learning from professionals. The group was founded by several Communication Arts alums, including Mary Rohlich, the producer of Atypical (Netflix) andThe Goldbergs (ABC).
CASA
CASA, the Communication Arts Student Association, is a group of students who host events such as professor panels, networking opportunities with working professionals, socials, and resume, cover letter, and work-life balance workshops for members. CASA helps students find the connections between the different Communication Arts tracks that interest students to help build community.